Preorders for the new stand-alone HTC Vive Focus
virtual reality headset started in China taking place during December 2017,
after which it has started rolling out to consumers throughout China, providing
them with an early glimpse at the new stand-alone VR headset technology before
the rest of the world. This week during the GDC 2018 games event taking place
in San Francisco, HTC has confirmed that the new HTC Vive Focus virtual reality
headset will be launching internationally sometime during 2018, “later this
year” were the words used by HTC in their statement.
HTC has also made available a developer kit for the
HTC Vive Focus which is now available to preorder for those developers looking
to get early access to the new virtual reality hardware. The Vive Focus is
currently on sale In China priced at roughly US$ 679 for the Electric Blue model
slightly cheaper at US$ 631 for the Almond White VR headset both of which come
complete with controller.
The news follows on from the announcement earlier
this week that the new HTC Vive Pro headset is also now available to preorder
priced at US$ 799 or £ 799. Although this price only includes the headset and not
any sensor base stations or virtual reality motion controllers, all of which
will need to be purchased separately.
To recap the HTC Vive Focus stand-alone VR headset
is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile processor and fitted with an
AMOLED display offering a resolution of 2,880 × 1,600 pixels. The integrated
rechargeable battery is capable of powering the headset for up to 3 hours on a
single charge and no connection to a computer or smartphone is required to
enjoy virtual reality applications, games and experiences.
